.22lr oil/water resistance test

Within a cup I placed two of each of the following rounds: Remington Golden Bullet, Federal Spitfire, CCI Blazer, CCI Stinger.
I sprayed enough BP Blaster (the most "penetrating" oil I can think of) to fill the cup half-way up to the rounds (they were laying on their sides....).
After almost two days in the oil (I'd shake the cup to stir up the rounds when I walked by it) I took the rounds out and placed them into the same cup, but this time full of soap and water.
When it came time to shoot them I rinsed them off with more water and dried them with a towel.

I used my NAA mini-revolver and loaded up the cylinder as following: 2 similar rounds not placed in oil, 2 rounds bathed in oil, empty chamber.
Both Remington and Federal rounds that were in the oil failed to ignite (pulled the bullets, wet powder).
All four of the CCI Blazer ignited, but the ones placed in oil had the sound report that some of the powder got spoiled. Accuracy was mediocre.
CCI Stinger I might as well not even included in the test...all four rounds ignited consistently and made one ragged hole in the book I was shooting at.

All the rounds that did fire penetrated the book completely, except for the Federal Spitfire that seem to stop within the first 200 pages.
CCI Stingers were incredibly deformed/expanded even out my little 1 1/8 inch barrel.

So there ya have it...if your carrying a pocket .22lr and worry about the rounds getting spoiled..know that if you got CCI Stingers there is nothing to worry about. Even if your sweating BP Blaster all over your gun...it'll still shoot.

Thanks for the test/review. I never thought about .22 ammo not being sealed properly. It would be interesting to see a similar test with various centerfire ammo.

TheDaywalkersDad

March 19, 2013, 05:09 PM

Interesting test. Up until recently .22lr was so cheap and plentiful that I never really worried about it. That's no longer the case.
Centerfire ammo however has always been a bit more costly. I had an interesting experience several years ago. My downstairs flooded during a hurricane and my bottom level was under about 1 foot of water. Unfortunately I had most of my ammo in a foot locker on that floor. All of it was under water for about 3 or 4 hours.
The water receded and I put all of the ammo outside in a few buckets. Some family members were good enough to dry it all off for me over the next couple of days.
I spent the next year shooting it up and only had about 3 duds out of a few thousand rounds of 9mm, .40cal, .38spl, 20ga and 12ga. There was a good mix of Silver Bear in 9mm, reloads in .40cal and domestic .38spl. Almost all of it went bang. I was very surprised that only a few rounds failed to fire out of what was probably over 3,000.

Pyro

March 19, 2013, 05:44 PM

This -might- be overkill, I did try actually sealing some .22 Stingers.
I wonder how the Remington's and Federal's would fair in the oil if I sealed them as such.
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/4880/0319131616.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/843/0319131616.jpg/)

MedWheeler

March 19, 2013, 06:54 PM

Pyro, what is that, teflon tape?

rcmodel

March 19, 2013, 08:36 PM

Interesting test indeed.

However, the next time with a different lot of Golden Bullet, Federal Spitfire, CCI Blazer, CCI Stinger?

The results could come out completely different.

No .22 RF ammo is sealed against oil or moisture.
Bullet fit and case crimp is the only thing going for it.

And that can change by lot number of the same ammo.

rc

LightningMan

March 19, 2013, 10:05 PM

Another type of penatrating oil you could try would be Kano Kroil. Stuff will loosen up most any rusted stuck bolt/nut. Supposed to penatrate into gaps as small as one millionth of an inch. LM

Pyro

March 19, 2013, 11:49 PM

Pyro, what is that, teflon tape?
Blue nail polish

However, the next time with a different lot of Golden Bullet, Federal Spitfire, CCI Blazer, CCI Stinger?
Very much could but I'll have to wait for the price of the stuff to go down...and even be able to find in the area.

Onward Allusion

March 20, 2013, 12:31 AM

Not a surprise that the CCI Stingers fired flawlessly. Unlike the other 22LR's tested, Stingers have a real roll crimp.

351 WINCHESTER

March 20, 2013, 12:05 PM

I fully imersed some Federal bulk 36 gr copper wash ammo (10 rounds) overnight. All were duds much to my suprise. The bullets that I selected would not twist in the case too.

PO2Hammer

March 20, 2013, 01:51 PM

Cool test. I've often wondered how .22 ammo would fare in water.

I know a guy who dips his cheap lead .22 ammo in liquid alox to prevent leading (works well I from what I understand). I wonder if that wouldn't be a better choice than fingernail polish.

Pyro

April 20, 2013, 05:12 AM

Well the Federal Spitfires I used are over 20 years old when I asked Federal Premium about the lot number. The Remington ammo is just that...Remington ammo, don't expect much reguardless of lot number (from my experience). The Stingers are recent production (2 years).

Pyro

May 3, 2013, 04:45 AM

Eley Tenex (new manufacture) got the same treatment.
The two rounds still ignited without hangfire but where noticably very weaker than the two control rounds (which my buddy called out through the spotting scope, both hitting the 50 yard paper target).

I will keep posting in this thread whenever I test new rimfire bullets.

ArchAngelCD

May 3, 2013, 02:09 PM

The Stingers are recent production (2 years).
Oh the Stingers have been around a lot longer than 2 years without a doubt. I'm sure the Stinger ammo was around in the mid-70's like 1975 or 1976 time frame. That ammo is almost 40 years old, not 2.

Havok7416

May 3, 2013, 02:21 PM

Oh the Stingers have been around a lot longer than 2 years without a doubt. I'm sure the Stinger ammo was around in the mid-70's like 1975 or 1976 time frame. That ammo is almost 40 years old, not 2.
The Stingers HE tested are 2 years old.

Bull Nutria

May 3, 2013, 03:12 PM

i had a plastice peanut butter jar of rem bulk 22lR ammo get wet in bilge of a boat, had 1-200 rds lost, one in 15 or so would fire. learned a lesson "keep your 22 ammo dry"!!

Bull

Marlin 45 carbine

May 3, 2013, 06:07 PM

I've had some stingers ftf at a very inoppurtune time, on a trip into canada out of my taurus revolver which does well with about any brand.
I had sprayed down the pistol libberally with wd40.
actually many in the cylinder failed to fire. I had spare cartridges and a wipeing of the chambers did 100%